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By Kelsey RyanThe Wichita (Kan.) Eagle • Monday May 12, 2014 1:04 AM

Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoFernando Salazar | THE WICHITA (KAN.) EAGLEMichelle Zane checks a patient’s electronic medical records in Wichita, Kan. A new disease-code system was supposed to start nationwide in October.

Have you been crushed by an alligator? Sucked into a jet engine? Had your lips stuck to a
musical instrument?

There’s a code for that.

Those are just a few examples of the new International Classification of Disease coding system —
called ICD-10 — that U.S. doctors were preparing to transition to in October.

But the federal government recently announced that the implementation of the new system will be
delayed at least another year — after doctors’ offices and hospitals across the country already
paid thousands for new software.

For Central Plains Eye MDs in Wichita, Kan., the cost of training and software for ICD-10 was
between $200,000 and $250,000, said practice manager John Pedersen.

That’s money for which the office will not be reimbursed by the federal government, said retinal
surgeon C. Joseph Beck, principal owner of Central Plains Eye MDs.

“This is just generating gross inefficiency with no upside to doctors or patients. Show me the
upside,” Beck said. “And it’s a physician-funded federal experiment.”

Whenever a patient goes to a health-care provider, the provider must enter codes into the
patient record and submit those codes to insurance companies to receive payment for services.

The old system, in use in the U.S. since 1979, includes more than 17,000 codes for procedures
and diagnoses. The new system will include more than 141,700 codes, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.

Last year, Kevin Hoppock, family-practice physician at Via Christi Clinic in Wichita, past
president of the Kansas Medical Society and the group’s current legislative committee chairman, met
with federal officials about stopping ICD-10.

“I don’t mind incurring additional costs if it brings greater value to the patient,” Hoppock
said. “This is a rare situation that provides almost zero patient value. It doesn’t help in
treating patients or getting them better care.

“The cost on the small docs is great, but it is no less of a burden on the folks who have a
large number of physicians. The zeros just get bigger.”

The government said the new system will allow for more advanced surveillance of diseases and
epidemics as well as help to develop a better understanding of public-health issues.

“They are going to make beautiful pie charts,” Beck said.

The data could also be used to identify outbreaks faster or potentially track what medical
interventions lead to the best patient outcomes, health officials said.

Physicians said the burden of collecting all of the data and paying for the system is on them,
which will take time away from treating patients.

“Everybody gets to use the data. But somebody, somewhere, has to create the data,” Pedersen
said.

Until the federal government releases an official start date for ICD-10, many doctors will
continue to fight it.